Wrapping up the NLC and trying to get home after a groundstop.
The 2026 Federalist Society Convention has drawn to a close. I have attended every NLC since starting as a 1L in 2006, save for the COVID-forced cancellation year. Each gathering shifts its emphasis somewhat, yet the overarching takeaway tends to stay consistent. Attendees encounter a lively mix of enduring legal questions and current topics, all flavored by the day’s political terrain. It’s nearly impossible to truly capture the convention’s spirit by watching a subset of panels, because so much of the action happens in the hallways and at the bars.
I believe much of the media’s coverage misses the mark by trying to compress a broad, complex movement into a few sentences. For example, CNN ran headlines claiming that, after a blue wave, the Federalist Society would move on from Trump. In reality, the program featured topics and speakers such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivering the Olson Lecture, White House Counsel Will Scharf joining a fireside chat, White House Advisor May Mailman discussing regulatory overreach, and Gene Hamilton championing tighter immigration policies on behalf of America First Legal Foundation. There were also other administration figures present from the EPA and the Office of Legal Policy.
There is no single vision on how the conservative legal movement should respond to today’s political landscape, and I doubt anyone possesses a definitive playbook. The midterm elections loomed as the elephant in the room. I offered my own take here, acknowledging that a great deal can still unfold over the next couple of years.
One of the most surprising discussions at the gathering concerned the commemorative coins honoring Calais, Slaughter, and a few other landmark decisions. These items symbolize generational wins at the Supreme Court. The ethos behind the Federalist Society owes something to Justice Scalia’s overruling Humphrey’s Executor as a foundational principle. Since the 1980s, conservatives—including John Roberts—have viewed the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional. West Virginia v. B.P.J. was presented as an obvious outcome by many observers, perhaps with less consensus at CNN. And on a lighter note, it was arguably the most swag-filled NLC I’ve attended, with a dedicated room for FedSoc merchandise and a coin collection that added a stylish touch.
Arguably the biggest disruption of the convention was the groundstop. My flight home Saturday evening was canceled, along with many others. I managed to book a room at the Mayflower for an extra night. Fortunately, one of the few remaining perks of United status—priority rebooking during irregular operations—proved invaluable. I had initially planned to depart Sunday evening around 7:30 p.m. The United app now lets you be on standby for up to three flights at once without giving up your confirmed seat, and it will text you when a seat opens up on an earlier flight, with a 20-minute window to accept. I was able to move from the 7:30 p.m. flight to the 12:50 p.m. option, and a few hours later to the 10:58 a.m. option. For both moves, I was first on the standby list. Around 5:00 a.m., I was offered the chance to take the 8:20 a.m. flight, but I was sleeping and missed the window. The system functioned very well, and I doubt I would have secured an earlier seat without my status. In the end, the 12:50 p.m. flight was canceled, so I expect to arrive home today.
